Basic Overview
You are tasked with writing a “bad news” email. A “bad news” letter/email contains a negative
message (a message that is perceived as unpleasant, disappointing, or unfavorable by the receiver).
Requirements
Respond to the scenario listed below
Write a minimum of 2 paragraphs (containing 3-5 sentences each) and a maximum of 4
paragraphs.
Organize your email using traditional corporate structure with To:, CC:, and BCC, and in the
correct order.
Include a complete email signature using your real name, and fictitious title and company name.
Utilize the guidelines for negative messages discussed in your text and in class.
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Use the indirect approach, including: an opening buffer, reasons for the decision/situation,
presentation of the “bad news”, and a positive closing.
Watch for grammar, punctuation
Scenario: Profits vs. Risk to Society
You are an engineer or scientist charged with performing safety testing as well as obtaining approval
from a regulatory agency or outside testing laboratory of your company’s product – ThingamaBob v20
(TB20). TB20 has been tested and found compliant with both voluntary and mandatory safety standards
in North America and Europe.
Because of a purchase-order error and subsequent oversights in manufacturing, 25,000 units of TB20
were built that are
not
compliant
to any of the North American or European safety standards. Under
some plausible combination of events, the user of TB20 could face serious danger. Retrofitting these
products to make them compliant is not feasible because the rework costs would far exceed the profit
margin. Everyone agrees that because of this defect, the agency safety-labels will not be attached to the
bad units, as per the requirements of the regulatory agencies.
Only two options exist:(a) Scrap the
units and take the loss. (b) Sell the units.
An employee of the company notes that many countries have no safety standards of any kind for this
type of product. It is suggested that the bad units be marketed in these countries. It is pointed out that
many of these nations have little to no regulations/codes concerning products like TB20; or if
codes/regulations exist, they are not enforced. The argument is thus advanced that the bad TB20 units
are no worse than similar products available in these countries. Assume that no treaties or export
regulations would be violated.
Your direct supervisor (Mohammad Dostyar, Project Manager) has asked you to select which of the
options above you support. He also agrees that the bad units should be marketed to a country with
few/no safety standards.
**You disagree with your manager’s stance on this very serious issue
.** You need to write an
email response. The following people MUST be included in your response and in the appropriate order
(To/CC/BCC):
Project Manager: Mohammad Dostyar;
Manager’s Executive Assistant: Geoffrey Lotz;
Chief Executive Officer: Lorena Sanchez
Vice President, Human Resources: Gina Johnson
Senior Vice President, Safety & Design: Kaveri Patel
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